“Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed
by the things that you didn’t do
than by the ones you did do.” Mark Twain
You can find answers to your questions about trips
and lots of how-to-do-it info,
including for first-timers,
by looking through this website .
See the EVENTS CALENDAR below at this page for a list and links to all the details about each trip we intend to have.
How do I join the Outdoor Club?
Joining the club, (becoming a paid member), is not required to go on our adventures, but members pay less for each event. Most people do not pay to become a member until they find activities they want to participate in (and get the lower price for members.) Membership is $15 for 365 days.
HOW TO FIND US to get info you can’t find at this website or sign up for an event:
Places / times to find us:
Officers meetings are held as needed as the officers learn their work schedules, and when business needs to be completed.
Clubs are required to have a “social” meeting “Have a meeting a month” during fall, winter and spring quarters, and other meetings are announced when we figure out when we will have them.
Club meetings are not required for everyone, except for a meeting shortly before overnight trips for people going on the trip. (Last signups for a trip, carpools / roommates / dining are arranged, people pitch the tent they intend to use for an expert to see if it is okay, we check waterproof rain gear to make sure it is okay, etc.)
Fall quarter 2024 meetings
are posted below as we know when they will be.
Fridays September 27, October 4, 11 and 18, 2024
at 4:30 p.m. (until 5 or maybe 5:30 p.m.) in classroom S56. You can get questions answered about any club adventures,
including:
kayaking lesson and practice paddling at Baylands (15 minutes from the campus), and sign up for the lesson/practice
The Friday, Oct. 18, 4:30 p.m. meeting will be to start to make plans for going on the winter quarter weekend trip to Yosemite National Park.
To find S56, go to:
https://www.deanza.edu/maps-and-tours/
Look for the S5 building. S56 is in the bottom left hand corner of the S5 building.
Or look at the map with room numbers of buildings at:
https://www.deanza.edu/maps-and-tours/s_quad.html
We will have a booth on Club Day on Thursday, October 10, 2024 (unless Club Day is postponed a week by rain).
Club Day is usually scheduled for 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. and the Outdoor Club intends to be there at least that entire time, (maybe even as early at 9 a.m.) but coming to sign up the last hour will not give you enough time to take the test and do all the paperwork to sign up for the October 13 kayaking lesson and practice paddling at Baylands (in Palo Alto, 15 minutes from the campus).
Club Day has recently been in the Sunken Garden. BUT it will be in the main quad fall 2024.
To find the Main Quad notice on the mini-map below where it is in relation to the biggest fountain on campus:
You can also find the Main Quad in about the upper left – center of the campus map at:
https://www.deanza.edu/maps-and-tours/documents/Campus-Map-De-Anza-College-2024-0305.pdf
Times and places to sign up for the Winter Quarter weekend trip to Yosemite National Park, will be posted at: How To Sign Up for the trip.
(The first person to sign up came to a “meeting” Nov. 2.)
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And often we have a quiz of safety rules you must pass to show that you understand the adventure.
You can’t just show up for an off-campus event and expect to participate without having signed up in advance in person and having paid in advance. If you are under 18 your parent / guardian must sign you up, in person, with you. And the College has a rule: “Minor Students/Participants may not take part in overnight events without parental supervision.”
You can’t sign up on-line, by email or at this website, each student must appear in person to sign trip agreements/releases. Your friend or even your spouse can’t sign the required paperwork.
It can take a lot of time to fill out all the needed paperwork, so if you show up at the end of the time slot, you might not be helped.
You always need to bring a valid government-issued photo ID and proof you are a De Anza student to be able to sign up for an event. (You can show us proof of your current enrollment at the Portal on your smart-enough phone.) Please read details of events at this webpage and at the individual trip webpages before you come to sign up.
You can’t sign up without paying for an event. If you pay for the trip before doing paperwork and then do not get the paperwork done and in the hands of the faculty advisor before the trip, you will not get a refund and can not just show up and try to participate.
We do not have waitlists.
Only currently enrolled De Anza students, (part or full-time faculty, full time staff) can go on club events.
Even though Foothill is in the same district, enrollment or employment at Foothill does not qualify anyone to go with us.
People who want to go on an event between quarters (for example spring break or winter break) must have been enrolled the previous quarter, or already be enrolled in the following quarter. Faculty are subject to various rules depending on whether they are full time, ten month, part time, on sabbatical or Article 19 and should contact the club advisor well in advance of an event they want to participate in.
The Outdoor Club is a completely volunteer organization, neither the officers nor the advisor(s) are paid. As a result you will not get the same ‘service’ from us as from a professional group.
We can’t always find a way to sign up people who can’t make it to our regular meetings, to a class when we are there, or to a table we have on campus. If none of the times we have available for signups are convenient for you, we don’t have enough people to be able to meet personally with you and sign you up.
People who wait until the last minute to sign up are sometimes left out.
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EVENTS CALENDAR
For your info, but not a club event every year: The Half Dome Cables in Yosemite are usually put back up in May, conditions permitting. Permits are required 7 days a week when the cables are up. The pre-season lottery application period for permits usually begins March 1 , and ends March 31. See https://www.nps.gov/yose/planyourvisit/hdpermits.htm They are usually taken down in October. Also see advice, photos and maps about the hike to the top of Half Dome.
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National Parks offer free entrance in 2024 on
January 15: Birthday of Martin Luther King, Jr.
April 20: First day of National Park Week
June 19 – Juneteenth
August 4: Great American Outdoors Day
September 28 – National Public Lands Day
November 11 – Veterans Day
Please double check at the website for the park you want to go to to be sure this is still true for that park. You will still need to pay for campsites, tours, etc.
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Campsites for our Friday, Jan. 31 – depart Sunday Feb. 2, 2025 weekend trip to Yosemite
go on sale five months in advance on Sept. 15, 2024 at 7 a.m. PT.
Club members got three large campsites in a group in Upper pines (the only campground open in the winter that you can park at your campsite). They intend to share them, but other people could still get their own.
See details about getting a great overnight accommodation, whether camping, cabin, tent cabin or hotel room at In Advance of the Yosemite Trip.
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We have no official plans for the club to officially volunteer at the California Coastal Cleanup day but you could take a look at:
https://www.coastal.ca.gov/publiced/ccd/ccd.html
The 38th Annual California Coastal Cleanup Day is set for Saturday, September 21, 2024) from 9am-Noon, at beaches and waterways throughout the state.
(At the 2021 event, volunteers picked up 29,432 pounds of trash and recyclables.)
from their website:
TOP TEN ITEMS 1988-2017 COUNT PERCENTAGE
#1. Cigarettes/Cigarette Filters 7,535,411 36.96%
#2. Food Wrappers/Containers 2,193,018 10.76%
#3. Caps/Lids 1,861,923 9.13%
#4. Bags (paper and plastic) 1,572,241 7.71%
#5. Cups/Plates/Utensils 1,113,129 5.46%
#6. Straws/Stirrers 863,481 4.24%
#7. Glass Beverage Bottles 679,709 3.33%
#8. Plastic Beverage Bottles 554,825 2.72%
#9. Beverage Cans 496,117 2.43%
#10. Construction Material 367,729 1.80%
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The Red Cross First Aid Certification class at De Anza
has no fee for textbooks, all the reading is online.
To get a look at the reading assignments, go to:
https://marydonahue.org/health-57a
The class is only one unit and only meets four Friday afternoons. The class is highly recommended for people who go on Outdoor Club adventures.
Students who attend all of the four class sessions in HLTH57A have a 100% success rate at earning the Red Cross First Aid certificate.
(At least 60% and often at least 70% of each class earns an “A” grade,
some quarters as many as 87%,
for example Spring 2022 when 18 students earned an “A+” grade, one an “A,” and one an “A-”
or 85% in Spring 2023, four students got perfect scores on the final, 12 students earned an “A+”, four an “A” and one an “A-” )
or 75% in Fall 2023, five students got perfect scores on the final, 11 students earned an “A+”, three an “A” ).
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As of the end of Club Day, October 10, 2024, the Oct. 13 trip is full.
A kayak day trip with a paddling lesson, at Baylands Preserve in Palo Alto
16 minutes from the De Anza Campus.
beginners or experienced
We have been going each May and October.
AND we will go again on Sunday, October 13, 2024, 8 a.m.
(A local recreation company charges $149 – $169 for a kayaking lesson and tour. Another company offers a lesson and paddling for $119 for “XYZ” Members, $149 for non-members. Places in Monterey charge $40 per person for a kayak rental with no lesson.)
You must sign up in advance and we have limited space for people.
Cost
This lesson will be $35 club members, $45 other students.
$15 of this will be totaled and split towards a credit for a future club event within one year.
The split will be based on time spent (especially among those who arrive on time) to unload kayaks,
put paddles together, bring the kayaks down the launch ramp
and among those who stay until all the chores at the end of the event are finished, including, but not limited to, bringing the boats/paddles/lifejackets back up the launch ramp to the trailer, hosing off the paddles and or boats and reloading them, tying them down on the trailer, repacking paddles and lifejackets.
You will learn to paddle the same kayak model you could use on the between-summer-and-fall-quarter trip to Grand Teton National Park.
Details are at: https://marydonahue.org/baylands-kayaking
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De Anza Health Services often offers free flu vaccine,
for “currently registered De Anza students and employees while supplies last . . .”
They will post details about the fall free vaccine ( if they have it) at:
https://www.deanza.edu/healthservices/
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The following has had De Anza students and faculty attend it, but not enough people to make it an official club event. Yosemite National Park has a winter bird count that anyone can participate in. People take walks in various parts of Yosemite with at least one expert birder. They are happy to have people along who are not “birders,” and teach them.
Yup, you will need to get up early for this dawn to dusk project. One of the times I participated I saw my first Pileated Woodpecker.
“Each year, tens of thousands of volunteers across the Americas join to participate in the Christmas Bird Count (CBC). This event is a census of birds in the western hemisphere that provides population data for science. Yosemite’s participation began in 1932 and has since contributed over 100,000 observations to the growing database of bird population trends. For many people, spending the day observing birds, reuniting with birding friends, and contributing to bird conservation makes their holiday season complete. The CBC is the longest-running citizen science survey in Yosemite and in the world.”
https://www.nps.gov/yose/learn/nature/bird-count.htm
has details of the mid December project and the link the register in advance with the Yosemite Christmas Bird Count Organizer.
It will be December 15, 2024.. The Christmas Bird Count (CBC) “is a census of birds in the western hemisphere that provides population data for science. Yosemite’s participation began in 1932 and has since contributed over 100,000 observations to the growing database of bird population trends. For many people, spending the day observing birds, reuniting with birding friends, and contributing to bird conservation makes their holiday season complete. The CBC is the longest-running community science survey in Yosemite and in the world.”
Before attending, you could take a look at
https://www.nps.gov/yose/learn/nature/birds-common.htm
to start to learn to identify, or get a review of, common Yosemite birds.
Historic highlights include:
A record 1,100 band-tailed pigeons counted in 1971
A record 560 mountain chickadees in 1972
A record 483 golden-crowned kinglets in 1953
Two rare hooded mergansers spotted in 1940
Great gray owls observed during five different annual bird counts
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Date / time announced closer to mid-December a Tent pitching lesson (if you will not rent a tent-cabin, cabin or hotel room, you should bring the tent you intend to sleep in on the Yosemite trip),
This is also a good time to get questions answered about the Yosemite Valley winter trip. and to get signed up. If you read all the links at How to sign up,
before you come to sign up, it will go much faster.
and for a laugh:
an eight person tent holds this many campers
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Date / time finalized closer to January –
but likely noon to 2 p.m. on a Saturday, Jan. 25, 2025 (but if you arrive after 1 p.m. you will not have enough time to get all the paperwork done. (Location to be determined closer to the date.)
mandatory pre-trip meeting and last chance to sign up for the
THIRTY-FIFTH ANNUAL Yosemite Valley winter trip.
Friday, Jan. 31 – depart Sunday Feb. 2, 2025
People reeeeeealy should have looked at: How to sign up, and In Advance of the Yosemite trip
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The weekend of Friday, Jan. 31 – depart Sunday Feb. 2, 2025 will be the
THIRTY-FIFTH ANNUAL Yosemite Valley winter trip .
Usually one of our biggest trips. People choose activities they want, including a snowshoe walk (snowshoes provided) with a Ranger-naturalist, long hikes to viewpoints above the valley or to the top of one of the tallest waterfalls in the world, snow sculpture building, Ranger nature walks/talks, self-paced photo tour to the best places to take photos of iconic landmarks, snowboarding/skiing (lessons and/or rentals – fee for this), photo walk with a professional photographer (fee for this), ice skating (fee for this). The weekend ends with a pot-luck breakfast together at a campsite or at . . . (to-be-announced).
Rain? Snow? Sleet? Sunshine? – the trip webpage has details of how to be prepared for any weather.
Many years we have people who have never been camping before and/or have never been in the snow. (So they’ve never been in a snowball fight, either. Okay, yes, all activities are optional, including snowball fights.)
Who will go on this trip?
We have had small and large groups (as many as 30 or 40 IF people sign up early and spread the word).
We always have people who have gone on the trip, done the hikes, etc. before, (even more than one year before).
2025 WINTER YOSEMITE TRIP COST paid to the Outdoor Club will be $20 Outdoor Club members and $30 other students. (Membership is $15 for 365 days and members pay a lower cost for each adventure.)
Other costs to plan for, not covered in your payment to the club, include your overnight accommodation.
campsite
wood-walled cabin without a bath, canvas walled/roofed heated or not tent cabin, wood walled cabin with a bath
Hotel room with a bath
FOOD, GAS, potential meals eaten at restaurants, a little change for the laundromat to dry some damp clothes, ski/snowboard costs (there are rentals and lessons at the Yosemite ski resort), ice skate rentals and/or ice rink fee, postcards, t-shirts and other souvenirs. You can rent winter boots at home before the trip.
You will need to pay the park vehicle entrance fee OR better yet, find someone to carpool with who already has a (National Parks and Federal Recreation Lands) Interagency annual pass. (If you also go on the club late summer Grand Teton National Park trip it could be wise to get a year long pass.)
OR find someone who is a U.S. military dependent and has their Dependent ID Card (form 1173) and can get a free national parks pass http://store.usgs.gov/pass/military.html
(The passes can’t be transferred/shared, the pass holder needs to be in your vehicle and show a valid government-issued photo ID.)
If you are riding in a carpool bring your share of gas, park entrance fee, etc. money.
photo above of Half Dome and meadow in January is from the National Park Service.
For details about the trip including potential overnight accommodations, links to ski/snowboard/ice skate/photo walk info, lists of gear to bring, first-timer’s instructions, carpool info/chains/driving directions go to: Snow Camp
The Yosemite ski resort offers (some years, but not all years) a “special discount for military, emergency medical services (EMS), police and firefighters to say thank you for your service.”
Includes: Free lift ticket for all military and first responders
Immediate family members receive a 50% discount on regularly priced lift ticket prices
Don’t forget – when you sign up you must show us your rain gear (hooded waterproof rain jacket and pants, not just a poncho) and we would like to know what you are doing about boots, tent and sleeping pads/sleeping bag. It could be a good idea to pitch your tent at the pool deck during one of the meetings and have us look at it.
People must sign up in person in advance .
If you read the trip webpage
and the Yosemite trip agreement.
and how to get a money order to pay for an Outdoor Club trip
before you come to sign up, it will go much faster.
The club advisor does not have the time to answer questions about the trip that you could have found the answers to by reading ALL the Yosemite winter trip webpages thoroughly and carefully.
And you will have an adventure that is much more fun if you really understand everything before you sign up.
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We are putting smiles on our faces by starting planning for the August 2025 trip to Grand Teton National park.
The info below will change some by then.
The Outdoor Club is doing another adventure in Grand Teton National Park
any or all days, August 14 – 31 2024 +/- (between summer and fall quarter).
Participants can stay for their choice of a shorter, longer or much longer trip; for a long weekend or many weeks.
We will have four or five or six or . . .official kayaking days suitable for beginners and plan to do a short to major all-day (your choice of distance, with or without a Ranger Naturalist), hike into Cascade Canyon. Most trip participants usually do all the standard Grand Tetons sightseeing and museum tours. Some have rented bikes or gone white-water rafting or on a horse-back ride on their own.
We plan for the kayaks and gear to be transported to the park. (Rentals can be $50 for 24 hours. If we kayak part of only four days we save $200 per boat.)
Usually people go to Yellowstone National Park as well. Some have driven home through many states and visited many National Parks.
Very early morning flat water kayaking, with no experience necessary for at least one of the destinations. Some early starts (up at 5 a.m.) to be able to see animals.
Unlike most mountain ranges which have foothills, the Grand Teton range is fronted by vast expanses of land dotted with intimate-sized or massive lakes, then the mountains abruptly rise from the plain. They are rugged and craggy with some snow and glaciers on top year ’round.
The first aspen could be turning yellow, enough for some great pictures. Hawk and other bird migrations going through.
Probable sightings of elk, bison, pronghorn (can run 30 mph for 15 miles with spurts up to 70 mph), moose (7 feet tall, 9 feet long with 5 feet wide antlers), American white pelicans. Possible sightings of great blue herons, trumpeter swans (8′ wingspan; mate for life), Canada geese “v”s, northern river otters (we saw seven while out kayaking in 2002 & 2003, four stealing a fish from a Bald Eagle in 2004, a different three on a 2008 hike and yet another four playing along the river while we paddled in 2010), deer, coyotes, beavers or muskrats.
Elk bugling (a low bellow followed by a higher-note-than-the-first-soprano-faculty-advisor-can-reach whistle that carries a long distance) will be starting in early September, with the largest bulls amassing harems and the younger ones trying to. We’ve heard coyotes and even wolves when out in the early morning or evening.
There will be quite a few nights when the moon rises a couple of hours after sunset, giving us a dark sky for great stargazing. (For many people on this trip it is the first time they have seen the Milky Way.)
We have a limited number of kayaks, so it’s first-signed-up, first dibs on a kayak. Unless we have a small turnout, you must share a kayak. If we have a huge turnout, everybody can’t be out at once unless the late signups rent craft in Wyoming.
Sometimes people stay in a cabin,
sometimes in a tent cabin
sometimes they camp.
Think you can’t afford this trip? Think again, and read Grand Tetons trip cost, it has examples of
The cheap trip,
The not-so cheap trip,
The slightly more costly trip, but less driving time,
also known as the I-can’t-get-much-time-off-work trip,
and The Expensive Trip.
Grand Tetons trip pages index has brief descriptions of and links to most of the pages about this trip.
Grand Tetons is the main trip page with all the planned activities and links to other (not club sponsored) activities, such as climbing, galleries, white water rafting, trail rides, restaurants, rodeo, backpacking…
The answer to the question WHY ARE THERE SO MANY RULES? is here.
People must sign up in person in advance .
The trip agreement, which you must read before you come to sign up,
can be read at Grand Teton trip sample trip agreement.
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EVENTS WE HAVE DONE REGULARLY
THAT ARE NOT YET SCHEDULED FOR THIS SCHOOL TERM
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When we don’t do Baylands kayaking lessons in October and May,
(almost every quarter) likely on a Saturday (to be announced) ,
first-timer’s kayaking/canoeing lesson
at the De Anza pool, for a couple of hours, with the actual kayaking (and races?) for an hour or so. $15 club members, $25 non-members. $15 will be credited towards a future trip within one year for those who help with the chores until all the work is done (re-loading kayaks/gear on to the trailer, swimming back lane lines, etc.) which can take until an hour or two or even three after the lesson if it coincides with a swim class.
read details at:
kayaking / canoeing lessons
IF we have enough kayaks (without knowing you want to paddle), you can show up for this without signing up in advance, but be sure to bring proof you are a currently enrolled student (you can show us at the Portal on your smart-enough phone) and bring payment.
If you want to just watch the lesson you can do so for free from up in the pool bleachers.
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Once or sometimes twice a year, but usually at least spring quarter, surfing lesson by professional instructors. Soft long board and wetsuit rental included. Almost everyone who takes the lesson has never surfed before and has a blast.
Details and lots of pictures are at: surfing lessons
lesson, with a credit towards a future trip within one year of $5 for members if we get 9 or more paid signups who attend the event on time.
(The trip will be canceled if we don’t get at least 5 signups because we get a group rate of that many people.)
No refunds for no-shows or people who arrive after the lesson has started, or who are late and can’t find us if we need to move to another beach because of water conditions or lack of waves. Interesting weather (rain, etc.) does not cancel Outdoor Club events.
You must sign up and pay in advance. Cost includes instruction, wetsuit and soft long board rental.
We’ve done this for over a dozen years. Some people really don’t stand up and surf, but everyone at least gets a few rides kneeling. The instruction is excellent and a lot of laughs. We start with a full lesson on the beach, including surfing right-of-way, etiquette, surf break awareness, wave formation, and practice standing up/proper stance on the boards.
Then the instructors go out in the water with us and help people who need it.
Yes, you will fall off the board numerous times, but so will everybody else.
If you can’t figure out on your own how to stand up on the board, some of the instructors are able to balance on a moving surfboard while helping you to stand up on your surfboard:
To participate in the surfing lessons you must pass a swim test (or show us a lifeguard card or scuba card that proves you can swim in deep water). Details of the swim test are at: surfing lessons
Times to take the swim test (at the De Anza pool, ask for Mary Donahue) and sign up for the surfing lesson will be Saturdays spring quarter, dates and times to be determined , IF we have any space left on this adventure by then) if we have a spare lifeguard to watch you: (PLEASE note the club advisor’s swim classes will be in session so you might have to wait for a few minutes.)
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When the Karate Club plays paintball, outdoors, Outdoor Club people join them.
date to be announced Up in the Santa Cruz mountains, off highway 17, only 3.8 miles up Bear Creek Road, at Los Gatos Pursuit Paintball.
Please read all of this as there are things you have to do before the trip if you want to go.
Carpools and caravans are on your own, neither the Karate club nor the Outdoor Club arranges carpools.
This info is from the Karate Club from a previous trip (prices updated the next time we go with them):
“Gates open at 8:30am, reservations are held until 9:30am and they close at 3 p.m.
Fees & other info (please note these can change faster than this webpage can be updated):
Rental players will pay $45 (or to be announced) per person which includes the admission, a rental mask, a rental harness to carry extra paintballs, rental of the paintball gun, 500 paintballs and all day air fills. Each of the guns has an air tank on the back which needs refills throughout the day. The 500 paintballs may last some of the players all day. It varies with each individual so there is no positive way to know. If any one runs out of paint they may purchase more at our field. All rental players are required to shoot paint purchased at our field.
Self-equipped players will pay $25 (or to be announced) for their admission. They will need to pay for all of their air refills throughout the day (or pay $10 for all day). Self equipped players may bring their own paint as long as the fill of the paint is not pink or red.
LGPP accepts cash as well as Visa, Mastercard and American Express.
Players under the age of 18, are required to have their parents sign their waiver. If parents will not be present on the day of play they may print a waiver from the LGPP website http://losgatospursuitpaintball.com and send it signed with their child.
All players are required to go through a safety orientation in the morning (even if they have played before). There is typically break a for lunch somewhere between 12:30pm and 1pm. Players may either bring their own lunch or purchase lunch from the field. Players are not allowed to bring grills barbecues. NO ALCOHOL. There are hot dogs, polish dogs and chicken for sale as well as water, candy, chips, soda and gatorade (items range in price from $1 to $4 each).
Players should wear old, comfortable clothing such as old jeans or sweats and a long sleeve shirt or shirts. Some people wear sweatshirts or long sleeve t-shirts. Wear hiking boots or cleats or tennis shoes as well as baseball hats turned backwards to protect the back of the head.
All De Anza students need to fill out a field trip waiver prior to the game. Details of how to get one are at: release form .
If you are planning on attending you MUST contact Karate Club advisor Pete Rabbitt no later than (date to be announced) to reserve your spot.
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Active Assailant Training (Run Hide Defend presentations) will be announced here when I get the dates, or just search at the De Anza home page.
Conference rooms A and B are upstairs in the Campus Center.
A closed-captioned version of the active shooter “RUN / HIDE / FIGHT” video is at:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5mzI_5aj4Vs
in Spanish: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8fgwh34h7D4&feature=youtu.be
in Vietnamese: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2FPJLOWvbvw&feature=youtu.be
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We do not know what summer trips we can do at places that require reservations for campsites until we try to get campsites, (and they can be difficult if not impossible to get for a large group) but previous summers included:
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On a Saturday some late summers, a day trip to Meek’s Bay on Lake Tahoe. $10 club members, $20 other students.
Lake Tahoe (22 miles long, 12 miles wide), is one of the biggest fresh water lakes in the world, with an astounding water clarity. The lake is various shades of intense blue and peaks surrounding it are often snowcapped year ’round.
We will hang out on a huge white sand beach next to a swimmable bay on the clear waters of Lake Tahoe. Volleyball net up on the beach. We intend to bring the club owned ocean kayaks/paddles/lifejackets, a sail kit for one of the kayaks, a stand-up paddle board and a canopy or two or three or four for shade. You bring the pop-up chair if you want to spend a lot of time reading a book and finally unwinding before fall quarter starts. If people bring bikes and try the Flume Trail before joining us in the afternoon at the beach or do a hike into the Desolation Wilderness, or if someone brings/rents a ski boat… these extra activities are not a club event, but we sure would like you to wear bike helmets and lifejackets as appropriate.
Money paid will go towards the gas to transport the kayaks, etc. If you come for only the day you will need to pay a $10 parking fee at the resort or park on the highway and walk in.
If you want to spend Friday and Saturday nights your arrangements are on your own and not a club sponsored event, but there is a Forest Service campground right next to Meeks Bay (so you can walk in to the beach and not pay the parking fee) and lots of hotels all around the lake.
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three nights camping, hiking, (and on your own if you make reservations in advance, a climbing lesson) at Tuolumne Meadows, Yosemite. .
Usually right after the six week summer session. previously $21 members, $31 other students.
The book Yosemite Wildflower Trails says this about Tuolumne: “Those who know it best will tell you that here the Sierra attains its ultimate perfection of mountain grandeur. Near the source of eternal snows on the peaks, icy streams flash down the mountain slopes to linger a while in the grassy meanders or lush meadows, trailing garlands of wildflowers along their banks. Many lakes, from the smallest of rocky tarns to those filling ancient glacial valleys, lie in grass-rimmed splendor reflecting the sky, the clouds and the crags.”
We plan to take a day (probably Tuesday) go to the top or near the top of Mount Hoffman (10,850′), the geographical center of the park. This does not require rock climbing skills, but does require an early start to miss possible afternoon thunderstorms.
We might bring the De Anza owned kayaks and plan to be out on Tenaya Lake for morning sunrise sightseeing, races, or…? (No kayaking experience is needed.)
We also plan to continue the lifetime quest for the perfect swimming hole. (The Dana and Lyell forks of the Tuolumne River come down from the peaks and meet near the campground, then the river winds through the meadow.)
The Tuolumne Rangers do very good nature walks. The climbing school is based in Tuolumne in the summer, but please try to get a reservation in advance, people on previous trips have been disappointed who tried to sign up when they got to Tuolumne. Stargazing at Tuolumne is great.
People must sign up in person in advance .
We have a limited number of kayaks, so it’s first-signed-up, first dibs on a kayak. Unless we have a small turnout, you must share a kayak.
Lots more details are at: Tuolumne trip
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some summers: camping at D. L. Bliss State Park at Lake Tahoe and kayaking in Emerald Bay.
For Tahoe kayaking we all paddle in one large group that stays together.
People must sign up in person in advance .
We have a limited number of kayaks, so it’s first-signed-up, first dibs on a kayak. Unless we have a small turnout, you must share a kayak.
We can fit 50 people camping, but only have kayaks for 20. Cost in 2005 was $35 for members who kayak and camp, $45 for other students who kayak and camp, $15 for members who only camp and $25 for other students who only camp. $20 of the kayak and camp fee will be credited towards a future club trip, within one year, for those who help with any needed kayak loading/unloading before, during and/or after the trip.
This price compares well to local Tahoe companies that offer kayak day trips for $65 to $85 (3 1/2 to 5 1/2 hours).
We have space for eight vehicles at the site, so the eight largest carpools can park at the campsite, all others must park at day use (a short walk from the campsite). Each vehicle must pay a park entrance fee ($5 daily??).
For more information (and pictures) about this trip go to Tahoe trip
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Answers to most questions about how the club works are at: Outdoor Club Basic Info
The main rules common to most of our trips, including who is eligible to go, are at: Outdoor Club trip rules.
Carpools are arranged among the students going on the trips, not by the club or the college. For info on how to get/give a ride and links to advice on how to do basic maintenance to get your car ready for a club trip go to Carpool FAQs
Road trip advice and etiquette
De Anza College home games also has links to student recitals, dance performances, art exhibitions and more.
Any club member can propose and plan a club event. For details click on this link: Club Trip Leader Job Description
The Outdoor Club is a completely volunteer organization, neither the officers nor the advisor are paid. As a result you will not get the same ‘service’ from us as from a professional group. We do not have the time to return phone calls or emails from people asking questions that they could have found the answers to by simply looking through this website. We can’t always find a way to sign up people who can’t make it to our regular meetings, to a class when we are there, or to a table we have on campus. If none of the times we have available for signups are convenient for you, we don’t have enough people to be able to meet personally with you and sign you up. People who wait until the last minute to sign up are sometimes left out. Please don’t e-mail the club advisor wiht questions as I don’t have the time to answer club info requests, just look around the pages.
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Years ago the college made the Outdoor Club remove a Facebook page that some club members had made without consulting the club Executive Board (officers), and did not maintain.
So now the De Anza College Outdoor Club does not have a Facebook page and is not on TikTok.
Anything you find about the De Anza Outdoor Club on Facebook or TikTok is not endorsed or sponsored by the De Anza Outdoor Club, De Anza College or the De Anza Foothill District.
The De Anza Outdoor Club does not ask for donations online / in any email or other message.
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Pictures from some of the most recent events and/or volunteering:
May 5, 2024 Baylands kayaking lesson and practice paddling
October 2023 Baylands kayaking lesson and practice paddling
Pictures from the May, 2023 trip for first-time-no-experience-needed kayaking at Baylands Preserve are incorporated into the main trip webpage
Pictures from the 2023 winter Yosemite trip are incorporated into the Snow Camp webpage
Outdoor Club kayaking at Baylands Preserve October 2022
De Anza College Outdoor Club Yosemite winter trip 2022
Monterey kayak trip October 2021
Monterey ocean kayak day trip October 2019
Monterey ocean kayak day trip May 2019
Yosemite winter trip 2019 with bear paw prints in the snow
Outdoor Club Monterey kayak trip October 2018 We saw a whale but did not get a camera out in time!
May 2018 Monterey kayak adventure
fall quarter 2017 Monterey ocean kayak day trip
2017 Total Solar Eclipse in Grand Teton National Park
2017 Monterey Bay kayak spring break trip
Yosemite snow camp February 2017
De Anza College Monterey kayak trip October 2016
Yosemite winter camping trip 2015
Grand Teton trip 2014 video by Jennifer Chiou
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uXiHRYdgo7Q
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Your vote
is your voice
be heard.
If there are a multitude of items on the ballot
and you only vote on one of them,
your vote will still be counted.
If you are homeless, including living out of your car, you can register to vote.
There is no literacy requirement.
If you are 16 or 17 years old, you can pre-register to vote and you will automatically be registered to vote on your 18th birthday.
The main deadline to register to vote for any election is 11:59:59 p.m. Pacific Time on the 15th calendar day before that election.
If you are registering or re-registering less than 15 days before an election you will need to complete the same-day voter registration process and request your ballot in person at your county elections office or polling location.
BUT you can register to vote on election day as well.
You can register to vote online, (using a computer, iPad, tablet or smartphone) at http://registertovote.ca.gov
There actually have been elections that ended in a tie, in part because many people did not vote.
From Rock The Vote: “Millennials have the potential to be the largest voting bloc in our country but are voting at a fraction of their size, with an estimated 30 million young people staying home in 2012.”
“In 2024 millennials and Generation Z
will comprise 44% of American voters.”
